What went wrong in Itaewon on Halloween weekend?

A memorial altar is set up near Itaewon Subway Station in Seoul, Monday, to mourn the victims of a deadly crowd crush that occurred there two days earlier. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Experts point to absence of crowd management plans as major reason for deadly incident

By Lee Hyo-jin

While the nation is in grief over the deadliest crowd crush that occurred in Seoul's Itaewon entertainment district on Saturday night, it remains unclear exactly what led to the horrific incident.

The unexpected tragedy occurred after a mass of people were crammed in a narrow, sloped alley, killing at least 156 people and injuring 151 ― mostly in their 20s ― who were celebrating the first mask-free Halloween in three years.

The government has launched an investigation to get to the bottom of the incident amid growing questions over what went wrong.

Around 100,000 people gathered in Itaewon on Saturday, about three times more than usual, but it was not the most densely packed night the vibrant district has seen so far. In 2017, an estimated 200,000 people had gathered there to celebrate Halloween festivities, but no fatalities were reported back then.

The largest gatherings many Koreans remember are probably associated with the 2002 World Cup when millions of people wearing red shirts representing the national team's color flooded the streets of downtown Seoul to cheer for their squad. No lethal crowd crush was reported during that time either.

Underprepared authorities

Rescue workers, firefighters and police officers are seen on the street in Itaewon, Seoul, Sunday, near the scene of a deadly crowd crush. AP-Yonhap

Steve Allen, a crowd safety management expert based in the United Kingdom, pointed at an absence of crowd management plans as the main reason for the disaster.

"Reviewing the footage I have been sent, I didn't see any police in any of the footage, nor did I see any form of crowd management. Clearly, this is a popular destination and I believe this is the first reincarnation of the event since social distancing, which in itself is a celebration and heightens the crowd risk," he said in an email interview with The Korea Times.

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"The bi-directional crowd flows, narrow streets, sheer volume of crowds with no controls in place are the standout factors at this stage," said the lead consultant at Crowd Safety.

The National Police Agency (NPA) later explained that 137 police officers were deployed in Itaewon on Saturday, and that it did not expect such a large crowd. Unlike rallies, demonstrations or festivals that are usually organized and reported to the authorities in advance, the police did not foresee a such a huge number of people that night.

During a briefing on Tuesday, NPA commissioner Yoon Hee-keun apologized to the public, admitting his agency's weak response to the disaster, even though multiple reports of possible accidents due to the overcrowding in Itaewon had been filed to the police few hours ahead of the crowd crush which occurred at around 10 p.m.

"We will disclose related information (about the reports) to the public in detail," he said. According to the police agency, some 100 reports were made ahead of the incident, with the first reports filed around 6 p.m.

Yoon vowed that the NPA will launch an independent task force to conduct a thorough investigation on its response and get to the bottom of the incident.

Allen, who believed that some crowd disasters are both foreseeable and preventable, stressed that necessary measures should be taken to prevent a recurrence of such tragedies.

He explained that some of the key measures to prevent crowd disasters are ― effective monitoring undertaken by competent personnel who can identify crowd related issues, having crowd management staff and signage in place, as well as sharing advance information using a range of methods including social media.

Lee Young-joo, a professor at the department of fire and disaster prevention at the University of Seoul, also pointed at an absence of police control at the unorganized gathering.

"Like any other disasters, a crowd crush is also highly difficult to predict. But it is regrettable that the authorities had deployed a minimum number of police officers on site, even though they were aware that it is the first mask-free Halloween celebration since the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

"In a typical crowd surge, an individual would experience unrelenting pressure from all sides and the pressure increases gradually. So by the time individuals realize they cannot move nor escape, it may be too late," Lee explained.

Unlike concerts and rallies, however, where people tend to stand still once they reach a spot to watch or participate in the event, the celebrants in Itaewon were jammed into the alley and would have tried to move forward by pushing others, a major reason why pressure on each other could have been much greater than in other crowd surges, he viewed.

"And considering that the incident happened on Halloween, some people on site might not have acknowledged the seriousness of the incident at first, thinking that police and paramedics could be people in costumes," he said.

Lee also said the sloped alley ― 3.2 meters wide with a gradient of 10 percent ― seemed to have aggravated the damage on those walking down the alley.

"As they were densely clogged on the inclined alley, some people seem to have tripped over others standing in front of them, resulting in a domino effect."